The Gutenberg Bible

c. 1455
(the printed page)
Book of Hours Flanders
c. 1460
(an illuminated book,
hand-written by scribes)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackletter

Blackletter
The category of (Gothic) script letters used
throughout Western Europe from approximately
1150 to 1500. Most prominent kinds are
Textura, Rotunda, Schwabacher & Fraktur.
Egyptian (Slab Serif)
ROCKWELL (1910) rev. by M.F.Benton(1920s)
Developed for advertising, posters & flyers in
the early 1900s. Horizontal, strong and geo-
metric serifs. Little or no contrast in the strokes.
Old Style
BEMBO (1495) Francisco Griffo
stress points
Away from calligraphy towards rationalized
system of letterforms. Based on not pen on
paper, but design of punches for typefounding.
Sans Serif
UNIVERS (1957) Adrian Frutiger
Most obvious characteristic is the absence of
serifs. Generally strokes are uniform, with little
or no contrast between them. Stress is always
vertical. Variations tend towards either humanist
forms (Gill Sans) or rigidly geometric (Futura).
Transitional
BASKERVILLE (1750) John Baskerville
Mathematical system. Generous counters and
x-height. Usually vertical stress. Redefinition
of the alphabet as a rational system of parts.
Decorative/Display
MODULA Ribbed (1995) Zuzana Licko
All typefaces that cannot be assigned to any
other group. Historic, decorative, typewriter,
display, and experimental typefaces.
Type Classification
Modern
BODONI (1795) Giambattista Bodoni
High precision. Strict vertical stress. Serifs not
thicker than hairlines. Brilliant contrast. Bodoni
can be considered as the face of Neo-classism,
while Didot represents the Age of Reason.
Script/Cursive
EDWARDIAN SCRIPT (1994) Ed Benguiat
Scripts are based on handwritten (cursive)
letterforms and are not to be confused with
italics. Individual letters are designed to ‘touch’
in order to create a flowing, cursive effect.
 Carolingian Miniscule used in the
8th c. is the reference for the
humanist forms developed during
the Renaissance.
E.g. Jenson’s Venetian Old Style.

Page of text (folio 160v) from a

Carolingian Gospel Book
(British Library, MS Add. 11848),
written in Carolingian minuscule.
light - light oblique
book - book oblique Futura Type Family*
Futura (plain) - oblique Paul Renner
bold - bold oblique
extrabold - extra bold oblique
heavy - heavy oblique
condensed light - CL oblique
condensed - C oblique
condensed bold - CB oblique
condensed extra bold - CEB oblique

*A set of typefaces derived from one basic design

 arm bowl counter ascender

stress angle capline

stress ear finial

meanline/median

stem x-height

baseline
stress
serifs

link

descender loop
2% of the H-line 3% must be
must be allowed projected above
above and below the top line